Opening up of open pits-box cut/ initial

cut/ aceess cut/ramp

• Opencast mines are opened up by an initial or opening cut

from which the first working bench is developed. A box cut
serves as the first step in the development of an open
pit/open cast mine.
• The main objectives of box cut are
• to reach the ore body,
• to provide a smooth entry into the pit and
• to facilitate the development of working benches
• This cut generally looks like a box having walls on all
sides having floor and open at the top.
• It consists of a single rectangular cut/ trapezium
shaped dig or cut made in the surface of the earth,
forming a box shape.
• The floor of the box cut slopes down at a suitable
gradient commensurate with the transport system.
• The gradient should be the steepest feasible to
minimize the cost of haulage throughout the life of
mine as well as to reduce the cost of excavation.
V= 0.5 h2/i (W +h/tanα )
• The box cut is initially excavated down to the floor level of the
first bench from the surface.
• Once the box cut is established upto the first  bench floor level,
the development of the first  bench is started. For this, a level
opening trench is then excavated to form the first bench.
• The opening trenches are extensions of the box cut at each
bench in the lateral direction.
• The opening trench is generally narrow, the width being just
sufficient for the turning of the machinery used in the
excavation of the opening trench and extends along or across
the property depending on the type of the deposit.
• Once the first  bench is developed over a
considerable area, either the existing box cut
is widened and extended or a new cut is made
to reach the next bench floor level for
development of the same, and the process
continues for development of the mine
benches.
• External box cut 
• When the box cut is placed totally outside the mineralized zone, it
is called an external box cut. This is applicable only for shallow and
gently dipping bedded deposits. The cut is generally located at the
middle of the rise most side.
• Internal box cut 
• When the box cut is located fully or partially on the mineralized
zone, it is called an internal box cut. This is applicable for all types
of deposit. The cut follows a direction that is usually oblique to
both the strike and dip direction. Generally, the direction is so
chosen that the haul road ramp formed by this cut and subsequent
cuts will not have unnecessary steep turning at any position.
• Internal
• Located inside the mineralised zone
• Located on berms on one side of the pit
• Saves lot of extra excavation required for construction of box cut,
• cheaper method
• Suitable for deep mineral deposits
• Certain amount of mineral left under the berms have to be left unmined.
• External
• Located outside the pit limits
• Extra waste required to be removed for its excavation, costly method
• Suitable for shallow deposits
• Complete extraction of mineral deposits within pit is possible
 Methods of drivage of box cut
The choice of method of drivage of box cut depends upon:
• Its cross section, width and gradient
• Local topography
• Availability of dumping space besides the site of cut
• The type and working dimension of excavating machine
• Production desired
• The various methods of drivage of box cut are:
1. Sidecasting without transport of overburden:
• Dragline excavators are most suitable for making a box
• cut owing to their deeper and wider reach. The earth
• and rocks removed from this cut are dump aside at a
• fairly safe distance above ground.
 Drivage of box cut by Shovel and
Dumper
• Power shovels have to load the material standing on the floor of the
box cut on to dumpers on the surface as their horizontal range of
dumping not being sufficient for side casting.
• Loading by power shovels is possible only down to a certain depth
depending on maximum dumping height of shovel.
• For excavating below this depth, the floor of the box cut is first levelled
off at this horizon and the road extended from this surface down to this
level.
• The box cut is then further deepened, the shovel now loading in to
transport vehicles on the intermediate level B2.
• When the required depth of bench is reached, the box cut is levelled
off, track or road extended to the bottom of the box cut and the ledge
B2 broken.
 Location of box cut-factors to be
considered
• Distance of mineral processing plant and
waste dumps from site of box cut
• Dip of mineral deposits and stripping ratio
• Areas of high grade mineralization
• HFL of the area
• Presence of geological disturbances
• Size of mine
• Access to other parts of the mine
• Bench height
• It is the vertical distance between the crest and toe of a bench.
• It shall not be more than the maximum digging height of the
excavator excavating the bench incase of hard formation, and
shall not be more than the maximum digging height of the
excavator excavating the bench + 3m in case of soft formation.
• From the operational point of view, the bench height is decided
based on the following criteria:
(a)Optimum height for loading efficiency of the excavator,
(b)One pass drilling
length should preferably be more than the bench height,
(c) and the blending requirement dictated by the geological
parameters
• Bench width
• is the horizontal distance between the crest of a bench and
the toe of the immediately upper bench.
• As specified by the DGMS, it shall be more than the bench
height, shall be more than the maximum width of the
largest machine + 2m, and shall be more than three
times the width of largest size dumper that is plying on the
bench.
• From the operational point of view, minimum width of a
working bench should be equal to 0.8* bench height
+dumper width + shovel dimension + 4m.
 Layout of Open pit Mines

• Many factors govern the size and shape of an openpit.

• 1)Topography, 2)Geology, 3)Grade,
• 4)Localization of the mineralization, 5)Extent of the
deposit,
• 6)Property boundaries, 7)Production rates,
• 8)Road grades, 9)Mining costs,
• 10)Processing costs, 11)Metal recovery,
• 12)Marketing considerations, 13)Bench height,
• 14)Pit slopes, 15)Cutoff grade, 16)Strip Ratios (SR).
• Once access has been established the cut is widened until the entire
bench/level has been extended to the bench limits. There are three
approaches which will be discussed here; they are as follows:
1. Frontal Cuts
2. Parallel Cuts – Drive by
3. Parallel Cuts – Turn & Back
• The first two apply where there is a great deal of working area available,
for example “at the pit bottom”. The mining of the narrower benches on
the sides of the pit is covered under the third approach.
• Frontal Cuts
• The shovel faces the bench face and begins digging forward direction. The
shovel first loads to the left and when the truck is full, it proceeds to the
other truck on the right.
Diagrammatic representation of a frontal
cutting operation
Two shovels working on the same face
• Parallel Cuts
• The shovel moves across and parallel to the
digging face. For this case bench access for the
haul units must be available from both the
directions. It is highly efficient for both the
trucks and the loader.
Parallel cut with drive-by
Parallel cut with the single spotting of trucks
Parallel cut with the double spotting of
trucks.
Parallel Cuts – Turn & Back
Open pit Mining Sequence
 Classic Open Pits Characterized by Oval
Shape, Benches, spiraling roads

• Characterized by a series of stair-step like

benches that each act as a working area
• Pit shapes tend to be more configured to
geology of the deposit more than equipment
needs/convenience
• Many pits are ovals shaped and fits the
geometry of disseminated metal deposits